The official 50thanniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing has come and gone, but there are still ways to celebrate the historical event here in Columbia.
South Carolina State Museum
The South Carolina State Museum’s new exhibition – Apollo 50 Journey to the Moon – runs through Sept. 20, 2020. The interactive exhibit charts the history of NASA’s Apollo Program and South Carolina’s role in lunar exploration. Sit inside a replica of the Apollo Luna Rover used for astronaut training, peruse a collection of artifacts from Charles Duke’s Apollo 16 mission and see an actual moon rock.
While at SCSM, head over to the 4-D theatre for a showing of “Fly Me to the Moon.” Hold on to your seat as the rocket blasts you into space and see what it really feels like to walk on the moon.
South Carolina ETV
South Carolina ETV is streaming its documentary film “Chasing the Moon” through Sept. 11 as a part of PBS’s Summer of Space. The film traces the space race from its earlies beginnings to the first lunar landing in 1969 and beyond. Visit www.scetv.org/chasing-the-moon for the link to all three parts.
University of South Carolina
For firsthand interaction with the moon, visit the SCSM Observatory on Tuesdays until 10 p.m. or the Melton Memorial Observatory at the University of South Carolina on Mondays from 9-11 p.m.
River Rat
Cap the night off with Astronaut Sauce, a specialty New England IPA at River Rat Brewery.